The transfer reduced the number of detainees as the Obama administration pressed ahead with its long-held goal of shutting the widely condemned facility

Two inmates from the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay were transferred to Serbia on Monday as the Obama administration pressed ahead with its long-held goal of shutting the widely condemned facility at the US naval base in Cuba.

The transfer of Yemeni national Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi and Tajik national Muhammadi Davlatov to Serbia reduced the number of detainees at Guantánamo to 76, with 27 of those approved for transfer once an appropriate country can be found, US officials said.

“The United States appreciates the generous assistance of Serbia as the United States continues its efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, calling it a “significant humanitarian gesture”.

It was the first time the United States has transferred Guantánamo Bay prisoners to Serbia, a Pentagon spokesman said.

After meeting Serbia’s Prime Minister-designate Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said the Obama administration was grateful to Serbia for taking the two inmates.

Vucic said Serbia acted in line with good cooperation it has with the United States.“Other countries took over (inmates), Germany took them, it was natural (for us) to do that ... I think this speaks well about our country and that this is a good signal for the future,” Vucic said.

The transfers came just a day after another Yemeni national, Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman, was transferred to Italy.

Davlatov, 37, also known as Umar Hamzayevich Abdulayev, was approved for transfer nearly six years ago by six US government departments and agencies. Al-Dayfi, 37, also known as Abdul Rahman Ahmed, was approved for transfer in October by a review board that determined his detention was no longer necessary for national security, the defense department said in a statement.